Grunder Gun
The Grunder Gun is a fictional hand cranked Machine Gun of the Confederate States of America. that was introduced in 1866, during the early weeks of the Northern Campaign, and first saw action at the Battle of Gaithersburg, Maryland. Unlike the Union Gatling Gun, the Grunder was known to fire at a much slower rate, but had better punching power compared to the Union Gatling Gun, and was also designed with its hand crank being located on the right side of the turret rather than in the back. ''History The Grunder Gun was first developed by Confederate Floridian Gunsmith Jonathan Lyonel Howell in 1866, and was first tested out in Alcudia, Florida, where it was immediately given the green light by Confederate Floridian state governor John Milton in order to send in samples to Richmond, Virginia so that mass production could begin. After field testing of the Gun in Petersburg, Virginia while being witnessed by governmental figures of the Confederate States of America, where after a short demonstration, by Howell himself, who traveled by rail from Alcudia, Florida to Petersburg himself in order to demonstrate his invention, the MG was given green light by Confederate Secretary of War John C. Breckinridge on January 19th, 1866, and production of the weapon began in Richmond, where by March 5th, 1866 the a large quality of Grunders were sent into Maryland, in order to aid the Confederacy against Union Counterattacks, that first began at Gaithersburg, when Union forces launched a surprise assault against Confederate lines. The Grunder Gun as the Civil War progressed into the early 1870's became a vital asset to the Confederacy's defenses during the official stalemate in No Mans Land, in which during the last years of the First Midwestern Campaign, Confederate lines that stretched from Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Wisconsin were able to withstand several overwhelming Union assaults, while at the same time killing almost a grand total of nearly 40,000 Men each year since 1867, and were mostly dug in as fixed structures either on the trench walls alone, or sometimes fitted within dug in Earth works that resemble small Pillboxes and Bunkers. Despite being designed for the ground, the Grunders were also fixed aboard Confederate Powers Helicopters, and even on a couple of Airships, by 1868, where as a result would make them the first airborne turrets to have ever existed if the Grunder had been real. Grunders were also able to make to frontline warfare, as they were often carried by Confederate gun crews in order to help aide in Confederate advances in the North, but were often all the time cut down by Union Sharpshooters, and were even used during the Confederacy's Invasion of Michigan, where many of these weapons were since then placed on several Steam Powered armored wagons, and were even used in the defense of New York City and Seagate, after the arrival of France in October of 1872, and also became one of the key defenses during the Second Midwestern Campaign that lasted from 1873 to 1875. As the war made it back down South by 1878, Grunder Guns, were then upgraded by Jonathan Howell in order to fire faster, but such an upgrade led to the sacrifice of the weapons initial punching power, where it was later labeled by Confederate General Beauregard that the Grunder now was equally compared with the Union Gatling Gun, only instead of having 6 barrels it had only 1. From 1878 to about 1882, the Grunder played apart in every Confederate defensive role in the last years of the American Civil War. By 1883, at the time of the War's end, and the fall of the Confederacy, most Grunder Guns were sold for scrap and smelted, leaving only 3 left in existance in Washington D.C during the years of reconstruction. 'Design & Power' Although not as fast as the Gatling Gun, when it came to fire rate, the punching power of the Grunder Gun made its firepower lethal toward anyone that stepped within range of them, as single shots from the MG alone would cause severe bone crushing damage toward any soldier that it struck, causing immediate death toward any soldiers, as the pain was described by Union medics to be too severe to recover from. Grunders however were also great when it comes to weight, in which 2 Southern soldiers could carry the gun to various spots on the battlefield, without having to worry about getting horses involved, or wheels to push the weapon forward, which was something that the Gatling Gun of the Union suffered from since 1862, making it had it existed one of the most earliest MGs to be carried around the battlefield and could stand up with the use of a 3 legged stand. The MG's hand crank, is located on the right side of the gun, along with an ammo compartment that is located on the rear side of the turret behind the major rows of ammo belt, where a full sphere like ammo compartment is built in the back side of the gun, which enables the weapon to fire, through the use of a special powerful hammer that is located inside the official barrel section of the turret, where after ammo is placed inside the ammo compartment, the bullets are then transferred one at a time through a small slide which leads to the main barrel chamber, where when the turret is cranked by the Confederate operator, the hammer strikes the bullet forward with a powerful hit that could cause intense damage to anyone that comes in contact with it on the battlefield. After the bullet is struck, the hammer quickly moves back into place, allowing another bullet to fall into the chamber, where it to is struck next with the same exact hammer, when the Grunder runs out of ammo, the second man in the Grunder squads have to take a full box of Mini Balls and feed them into the ammunition compartment in order for the Grunder to start firing again, but would also have to be careful on the way they pour it inside, as one simple mistake could cause the Grunder to jam, in which if this were to happen, the MG would either have to be abandoned, or broken apart in order to clear the jam, which in turn could lead to the deaths of the crew, this major flaw is the main reason on why the Grunder was never able to succeed over the Gatling Gun, despite having more powerful punch, and was lighter to carry. When firing the weapon, It is revealed that the crew of a Grunder MG, would have to stand both on the right side, and the rear side of the weapon in order to both fire, and feed the gun ammo, in order for it to continue its fire. As the Grunder cranker would always be responsible for firing the weapon as the man is often trained to continuously crank the gun, while the Ammo reserver, who is set to stand behind the weapon, is responsible for feeding in new ammo through the use of a small box, and preventing the gun from jamming while using precision based methods in order to poor the Mini Balls in, without causing them to slide off the bullet trail and cause a jam in the MG. The hammer of the Grunder gun is also considered to be not only lethal against Union Soldiers, when it comes to forcing bullets out from the guns chambers, but is also considered to be dangerous to Confederate soldiers as well, as when the Grunder is taken apart in order to be cleaned or oiled down to prevent any further rusting, all maintenance units must evade the Hammer at all cost, as it was written by Confederate Gunner Richard Carson, revealing that the Hammer itself is strong enough to snap a man's finger in 2, hint that the Hammer is not only powerful enough to provide punching power, but is also powerful enough in order to cause bodily harm to anyone who accidently has a hand near it. Protocol was taken in order to prevent accidents like this, where when a Grunder was being maintenanced a thick wooden block was sent into block the hammer in order to prevent bodily injury by 1867. Since 1866 the Grunder Gun fired Mini Balls, until the opening of 1872, where Confederate Alabama born gunsmith Jonathan Whaler, created the new and improved Carage, a bullet which by that time had replaced all Mini Balls for the Confederate military, and was also a projectile bullet that was created in order to compete with the Union made Cragor rounds that came first in 1869, after the creation of the Grant 69 Was developed. The Grunder would continue firing Carage Rounds, until 1883. Trivia *''From 1866 to 1872, the Grunder Gun was always firing Mini Balls, which were the same rounds of ammunition used in both Breech loader and Muzzleloader rifles and muskets, but in 1872, the bullet was changed to the Carage, which would be a much more deadlier bullet at that time frame... **''Since 1872 the Carage bullet was used by the Grunder gun for the remainder of the war, until 1883 and the fall of the Confederacy...'' *''The Grunder, bares a striking Resemblance to the British 1722 Puckle Gun that was created by James Puckle, that was never used during any conflict, in the 18th Century and beyond, and was never even remembered throughout history...'' *''Though designed mainly for the ground army, Grunder Guns were also set aboard Confederate Airships and Powers Helicopters, which had existed would have made these the first MG Turrets ever in the history of warfare, to be fired from the sky...'' **''They were also fixed upon Confederate land vehicles as well, which would also would make them the first turrets in history to be fitted to a moving vehicle that is powered by a motor...'' *''Though they were designed to shoot slower in order to maintain a much stronger punching power, by 1878, the Grunders were eventually redesigned to shoot faster when cranked, forever eliminating their punching power, and approving its rate of fire, making it similar to the Union Gatling Gun...'' *''Grunders had they existed in the actual Civil War in real life, would have been the first MG's in history that could be carried to various locations across the battlefield without the use of either horses or several men, which would make them equivalent to modern day MGs of both World War I and II, in which Gunners of that time period could transport and set up quickly while on the battlefield...'' Category:Confederate made fire arms Category:American Civil War Era Category:Cannons Category:Machine Guns